


Snapshot

by LadyLienDa



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2019 [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Broken Bones, Bromance, Gen, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 11:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17466731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLienDa/pseuds/LadyLienDa
Summary: This mission was not supposed to be this difficult, and Lance is overwhelmed. Things get worse when Keith breaks a leg.Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Snapshot

**Author's Note:**

> This prompt was given by both Glow-squid and anon!  
> Glow-squid asked:  
> "I would love to see Lance setting Keith's broken bone, preferably in a battlefield scenario? If it's not already taken that is"  
> anon asked:  
> "Would you write setting a broken bone for Keith? Caretaker of your choice :)"
> 
> You can find my bingo card at https://ladylienda.tumblr.com/

He heard the sound before he saw what had happened.

The sharp _crack_ could be heard even over the noise of the skirmish that had broken out over a misunderstanding with a local alien tribe. The weapons these aliens used were long wooden clubs, which made an especially loud _crack_ when struck against armor. The Altean-made armor, which wasn’t much good against Galra blaster fire, absorbed most of the shock and force of the blows from these clubs.

So when the noise sounded behind him, Lance didn’t think much of it – Keith was a capable fighter and his armor would protect him just fine. Lance needed to focus on his own batch of enemies – hulking, yellow-skinned bipeds with beady black eyes and tiny, ridiculous little wings that served no purpose except to look like anime bat wings on a fantasy orc body. They appeared out of the strange-looking forest (which more resembled a coral reef than foliage) in the blink of an eye. Lance almost suspected they were teleporting. There was no way people this big should be able to move that fast.

Keith was an amazing melee fighter, there was no doubt about that. But long-range weapons are, in the end, much more effective against melee weapons. There was a gap in the endless stream of enemies surging towards Lance and he was just about to toss a taunting remark over his shoulder when a sharp _crack_ sounded behind him. The crack was almost expected at this point. The scream that followed was not.

Lance started, almost dropping his bayard in shock. Glancing around the tree-like object he’d backed against, he saw, almost in slow-motion, Keith’s legs buckle and his lithe body collapse to the spongy ground like a string puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut. Keith’s face was frozen in an expression somewhere between surprise and pain. The yellow orcs that were attacking him raised their clubs collectively, bringing them down on the prone body on the ground. Fortunately, Keith still had his wits about him and was able to raise his shield in time. The blows rained down on the Altean shield, which flickered a little.

Lance called out to his companion, but Keith’s only answer was a grunt. Lance had to tear his eyes away from the scene to focus on his own enemies again, who, to his dismay, had multiplied again. Where were these people coming from?

 _Now would be a great time for one of those “save Keith” moments, Red Lion._ He thought, almost in jest. He knew of Red’s tendency to come to Keith’s aid after his (rather frequent) crazy stunts but had no idea what factors were necessary for Red to appear. Thus, he was surprised when a roar sounded in his head that wasn’t Blue. This voice was deeper and _burned_ rather than crashed like waves.

Almost immediately, a ripple of unseen force caused the yellow-skinned aliens to pause in their endless barrage, looking up and around for the source.

Lance’s heart leapt at the sight of the Red Lion above the pastel, coral reef-like forest. He was barreling over the tree line, mouth open in what would be a snarl, if he was a flesh-and-blood lion instead of a robotic one.

Lance knew what was coming a split-second before it happened. Red swept low over the ground, a spout of flames gushing from his open jaw. Lance dove to the ground and activated his own shield, watching the air about six feet above him igniting in a fiery inferno. The aliens scattered, streaking back into the forest with their heads on fire or scrambling out of the way as Red circled back for another round.

“Keith!” Lance called, glad his helmet kept him from breathing in any smoke. Crawling around the tree, he caught sight of the Red Paladin still lying prone where he’d fallen. He wasn’t moving. Wonderful.

Concern soon overrode his annoyance, however, when he saw how bad off Keith really was. At some point, his shield and the front part of his helmet had shattered, leaving a scattered halo of translucent, bluish shards around his head and shoulders. There was blood seeping from a nasty cut on his hairline and the pale skin around his left eye was already blooming into a beautiful shiner.

The biggest, most glaring problem was a broken bone, judging by the alarming angle at which his right leg was lying. With a jolt, Lance realized the origin of that snapping sound he’d heard earlier and winced. He’d broken bones before, but none of them had made a sound that loud.

Pulling off his own helmet and setting it aside onto the spongy, bluish foliage covering the ground, Lance sighed with resignation and gently tugged Keith’s broken helmet off his lolling head, being careful not to get any shards stuck in the way. Keith groaned a little at the movement, which Lance found encouraging.

“Keith, you with me, man?”

The eye that wasn’t swollen opened and Keith frowned up at him with as much fire as he could muster, which, sadly, wasn’t very much. If this were any other situation, Lance would be making so many jokes. But Keith’s look was nothing short of pitiful, and Lance saw immediately that it masked a haze of pain.

“You okay?” He asked, watching as Keith struggled to sit up, propping himself on his elbows. “Where does it hurt most?”

 _So far, so good, but what happens if he’s bleeding internally or something?_ Lance thought as Keith contemplated for a moment. _Who am I kidding? I have no idea how to handle any of this!_

“Bit woozy, but that can wait.” Keith said, sounding more coherent by the second. His confusion was wearing off to be replaced with pain, if his expression was anything to go by. “I think my leg is broken.”

 _No kidding_.

“Well, let’s have a look, then.” Said Lance, his voice coming out as a high-pitched squeak. This was way out of his comfort zone. Despite his bravado, he was no fan of blood and broken bones, and would rather wait until they got back to the castle so he could hand Keith off to Coran and not have to deal with it.

Looking down at his comrade, though, Lance was struck by how vulnerable he looked at the moment, and how hard he was trying to hide it. Though he would never admit it, Lance wasn’t very perceptive, and often caught onto things much slower than everyone else. Pidge turning out to be a girl and everyone else already knowing was the most classic example. But this time, Lance found himself able to see straight through Keith’s (unusually thin) mask, which let him know the Red Paladin was in much more pain than he was letting on. Suddenly, the idea of just handing Keith off to Coran seemed kind of heartless.

Lance sighed again, not for the first time that day. Keith’s leg was broken just below the knee, rather reminding Lance of the time he’d wiped out on his skateboard and ended up in a ditch. A few careful fingers probed around the swollen break revealed the bone had snapped cleanly, without any fragments. Setting it wouldn’t be terribly complicated.

Keith had laid back down on the grass while Lance was examining his leg. His eyes were closed, but the way he would twitch and clench his teeth at Lance’s touch told him he wasn’t completely out of it. Lance felt like he was intruding somehow, that he was violating Keith’s privacy. Lance had never seen the other boy’s guard so dissolved, his defenses so broken – snapped just like his leg.

“Keith?”

The other boy’s eyes remained closed. _Now_ he was out again.

 _Crap_.

Lance crouched beside Keith’s outstretched leg, placing one hand just below his knee and the other just above his ankle. Hoping he was doing the right thing, he began to shift Keith’s leg so the bottom of his calf lined up with the top. It made a horrible crunching sound that almost made Lance drop his leg in shock. Everything about this was so _wrong_.

Steeling his nerve against the bile that had risen in his throat, Lance kept going. An even bigger _crunch_ met his ears, along with a startled cry from Keith.

This time Lance really did let go of Keith’s leg as the boy startled into awareness with a hoarse shout of pain, jolting his injured limb away from Lance’s hands.

“Whoa, man!” Lance called, grabbing hold of his leg to keep it from moving too much. “It’s alright. Calm down.”

“What’s going on?” Keith mumbled.

“I’m trying to set your leg, dummy. Figured you could go straight into a cryopod without Coran poking and prodding you and muttering about how ‘odd you humans are.’ I mean, I could do without that if it was me.”

Keith grit his teeth. “Just do what you’re going to do.”

Lance shrugged, repositioning his hands and beginning to shift the bones again. That horrible crunching sound returned, and Lance resisted shutting his eyes and shying away from the noise. Holy _cheese_ , this was awful.

Keith squirmed, locking his muscles beneath Lance’s hands as he fought for control. Short, clipped hisses of pain came from behind gritted teeth until finally Lance had maneuvered the bone to what he assumed was more or less the right position. The leg was straight again. Lance let go at once, as if Keith’s leg were an animal that had bitten him, and he sat there on the spongy grass for a few seconds, breathing hard. He hadn’t noticed he was sweating.

“You doing okay?” He asked Keith, who had shut his eyes again. A single grunt was his reply, but he didn’t open his eyes. Lance took that as a good enough sign and set about wrapping the fractured area with the Altean equivalent of an Ace bandage from the miniature first aid kit hidden in his belt. He remembered his enthusiasm at discovering their deceptively simple belts contained gadgets, similar to Batman’s utility belt.

“Oh, man.” He kept muttering as he wrapped Keith’s leg with the bandage, doing his best to keep it as tight as possible. “Oh man, I see now why Hunk is so squeamish. That was terrible.”

“Sorry.” Came Keith’s reply.

“Don’t you dare apologize. This wasn’t your fault.”

Keith sighed, though Lance took it as more of a tired sigh than anything else. “If you say so.”

Now that the hostiles had been efficiently and effectively scared off (or roasted alive, in many cases), Red soared in and landed near the two paladins, causing a minor earthquake that made Lance’s teeth rattle together.

“Oh, you owe me, man.” He grunted aloud as he helped Keith to his feet – er – _foot_ , and proceeded to let Keith scramble onto his back, which was much easier when it was his younger nephew and not an injured boy almost as tall as him. “You owe me _big time_.”

“No, I think we’re even.” Keith replied. There was a hint of mirth to his voice.

Lance snorted, feeling more lighthearted now that the adrenaline had worn off. Keith would be fine once they got back to the castle.

“Nope, don’t remember.” He insisted, hefting the other boy a little as they entered the Red Lion’s open jaw. “Didn’t happen if I don’t remember.”

“Liar.” Keith jabbed back.

Lance grinned. “Come on, Mullet. Let’s get you back to the castle.”

**Author's Note:**

> Be nice to me, I have no idea what I'm doing.


End file.
